Out of these five, only NGC772 was visible with direct vision at 44X (9mm Expanse EP). The other four smaller galaxies required 88X (9mm Expanse + 2X Barlow) along with averted vision and careful panning of the scope. A good detailed atlas (i.e. Tri-Atlas B) is required to know exactly where to focus one's gaze when seeking out galaxies of this magnitude and size, especially when using such a small scope.

More humid conditions in December (my scope would dew up within an hour) would not have allowed me to detect any of these five galaxies if I'd tried back then.

I wasn't expecting NGC 772 to be relatively easy, given its low surface brightness. But I guess the large size and overall visual magnitude of 10.4 sort of made up for it.

Aries is pretty high in the sky from my location in Malibu, CA (34°3'8" N). Also, the southern half of the sky from my site faces the Pacific Ocean, so there is little haze from light pollution in that direction.

Thanks John. Finding new galaxies to observe/detect with this 3.9" (100mm) scope is tough now, since I've seen nearly all of the brighter ones in the past 2 years of galaxy hunting. So lately I've been concentrating on open clusters, which I've neglected up until now. Easier to find and observe, but sketching them can be very time-consuming.